SUNDAY’S trip to Queens Park Rangers is in many ways perfect for Liverpool FC.

SUNDAY’S trip to Queens Park Rangers is in many ways perfect for Liverpool FC. The game at Loftus Road provides Brendan Rodgers’ men with an ideal platform to banish the memory of a chastening defeat at Stoke City on Boxing Day.

It will allow the Reds a chance to prove to the supporters, manager and themselves that they have character.

The late afternoon kick-off will also allow them to erase arguably the lowest point of last season.

For three quarters of the game in March, Kenny Dalglish’s side – who had recently booked their place in the FA Cup semi-final and with a Carling Cup already stowed away – battered QPR.

The gulf between a side chasing Europe and one simply trying to keep their head above water was plain to see.

But from an education in football it became an embarrassment.

Three goals in the final 13 minutes turned Liverpool’s 2-0 lead into dust and was followed by a desperately poor run of results.

Sebastian Coates was probably as confused as most that night.

As the evening unfolded it appeared as though it was to be his finest night in a Reds shirt since signing the previous summer.

On as a first-half substitute for the injured Martin Kelly, Coates produced a sublime and acrobatic volley to put Liverpool a goal ahead just after the break.

The ECHO described it as “stunning”.

We also wrote how Coates was denied the chance to be an “unlikely hero” that night.

From the cusp of heroics, Coates’ goal was swiftly cast aside as a footnote on a woeful evening in the capital.

The 22-year-old must be wondering ‘what if’.

What if his goal had contributed to a winning team?

And what if he had been given a run in the side on the back of it?

Since the game, the Uruguayan has started just eight times for Liverpool and where he now stands in the pecking order is uncertain.

Where at one stage he looked as though he was ahead of a club legend Jamie Carragher in the thoughts of the manager at one point last season, he now appears behind the 34-year-old.

Rodgers, you will have heard and will continue to hear, has been speaking about character.

There was, he says, not enough of it at the Britannia Stadium on Boxing Day and for all his emphasis on talent, technique and tactics, the manager craves players with the qualities who cannot coach.

Coates has been part of a side that has been to Stoke City and won.

This young defender must show it again if he gets another opportunity before the season is out.

Although he would love it to be tomorrow afternoon against QPR, Coates is more than likely going to have to wait until a week later to show what he is made of.

Loftus Road may be perfect for Liverpool right now but the trip to Conference side Mansfield Town in the FA Cup could be exactly what Coates needs.

There will be times when the football is not pretty and the non-leaguers are direct and in Liverpool’s faces.

Coates needs to be banging on Rodgers’ door at Melwood and telling him he wants a piece of the FA Cup action.

Assaidi Cup of Nations trip can benefit all

THE last time we saw Oussama Assaidi in a Liverpool shirt was when used as a substitute at White Hart Lane last month.

It was only his third appearance in the league and one of 10 all season.

Liverpool will be seeing even less of the Moroccan from next month.

The 24-year-old is part of the provisional squad for the African Cup of Nations.

Whereas some clubs wrestle for their players to avoid missing such a chunk of the season, you can hardly imagine the Reds putting up much of a fight.

For a couple of reasons really.

Assaidi was brought to Anfield as a squad player, nothing more and his performances thus far – though full of energy and flashes of excitement – have not given Brendan Rodgers much to think about.

But Assaidi playing in the tournament can only be good for both parties when he returns to Melwood.

Hopefully he will come back sharper and full of confidence.

Taylor was a great player as well as manager

TRIBUTES have poured in following the sad loss of former Liverpool manager Phil Taylor.

But a section of the Reds faithful remember Taylor as a player as well.

A player of 342 games and 32 goals in a Liverpool shirt.

One glowing eulogy comes from 88-year-old John Thompson of Aigburth who remembers watching Taylor in his playing pomp.

“Phil was a tallish, dark-haired good-looking lad with a cultured look about his football, always appearing to have time on the ball,” he recalls.

“However it was only when he was moved to right-half (right midfield in modern parlance) that he came into his own, the improvement in his play was amazing, so much so that he was capped for England, how many times I can't recall.

“It was a great pleasure to watch him perform on the football field and he has left those of us old enough to remember him with many great memories.”

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The Editor

Alastair Machray

Alastair Machray was appointed editor of The Liverpool Echo in 2005 and is also editor-in-chief of Trinity Mirror Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. He is a former editor of The Daily Post (Wales and England) and editor-in-chief of the company's Welsh operations. Married dad-of-two and keen golfer Alastair is one of the longest-serving newspaper editors in the country. His titles have won numerous awards and spearheaded numerous successful campaigns.